Alicia Munnell, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, made this recommendation yesterday on the Smart Money (a Wall Street Journal publication) Encore Blog: work four more years to defer drawing down on retirement accounts, allow those accounts to grow longer, and receive an increased Social Security benefit. Otherwise, “… [you] are going to face a severe decline in living standards.”
That is fine advice, if you love your job (and your co-workers), and if you have the health to continue with work, and if you can keep your job… This is not the case for so many of us, a sentiment echoed in many of the comments. Wrote “DJ”, “Nice idea, but this opinion disregards a basic reality. Most companies do not want you working for them in your 60′s, actually even once you get to your 50′s the reality is most companies don’t want you anymore and you will be the first to go and oh BTW – good luck finding another job.” “Workingstiff” was even more to the point: “If I have to work until age 70 I would rather be dead.” What is a fifty or sixty-something to do?
Fortunately there are alternatives to just sticking it out as long as you can at the daily grind. Are surrendering those years to the job worth it for the increased financial security? Can you make different choices that reap the same degree of financial security without sacrificing those years to drudgery? Of course, you can. Examine how much flexibility you have in your spending, both near term and long term. Consider finding work (or part-time work) you love that may not pay as much, yet covers your essential expenses. You just have to be willing to take a hard look at what is most important to you. Then, design a plan that makes the trade-offs that work best for you.
